1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wireless Internet Packet (IP) communication devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Networked computing is a powerful tool for business and personal use. With it, the user of a user terminal that communicates with a network such as a company's local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) can access and share data with other terminals in the network.
Most LAN/WANs are implemented by wired connections, i.e., by requiring that the computers in a network be attached to the network by means of wires. For convenience and to permit easy movement of user terminals within the Network, wireless Networks have been introduced, in which network communication is established via a wireless radiofrequency (rf) or infrared (IR) link.
As recognized by the present invention, a wireless communication interface can be established by connecting an interface component to a user terminal such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or other computing device such as a laptop computer or personal computer. Once connected, the interface component can be used to transfer data via the wireless link between the user terminal and the network.
Moreover, the present invention understands that much communication, particularly Internet-related communication, is in so-called Internet Packet (IP) format. As understood herein, it consequently would be advantageous for a wireless computing system to support broadband IP communications.
As also recognized herein, using an interface component that is separate from, e.g., a conventional PDA but that can be coupled to the PDA to effect IP wireless communication avoids the necessity of requiring each PDA vendor reconfiguring the PDA itself. In this way, off-the-shelf PDAs can be used in a wireless IP application. Having recognized the above-noted issues, the present invention provides the solution disclosed herein.